Letter To My Younger Self

Dear Younger Me,

Hello, love.  I wanted to take a moment to give you a bit of advice.  You probably won’t take it as you’re quite stubborn, but here goes.  Oh and by the way, you look fabulous.  Go put on a bikini.

Care less.  About what other people think.  About what’s expected.  About boys (except for that Brian kid, he’s worth a second look), about fitting in, about looking cool.  There will come a day when you realize your opinion of yourself is what matters.  You will gradually become less interested in how others perceive you and more interested in being yourself.  It’s quite freeing, actually.  A head start on this one would be pretty awesome.

Care more.  About being kind, especially to the people who love you most.  About applying yourself in school and really learning instead of just racing towards graduation.  About sunscreen.  About your girlfriends, the ones who you know will be there for you years from now.  (And they are, by the way.  They really are.)

Be true.  To yourself.  To the way you were raised.  The people who matter will love you for it.  Be authentically you, not in some Oprah-life-coach-gratitude-journal kind of way, but in a way that leaves your soul settled and peaceful.  No matter what face you put on for the outside world, you always know whether you’re being real.  And when the public you matches the private you, that’s when the real living begins.

Slow down.  You are not, by nature, a patient individual.  You want what you want and you want it yesterday.  Take some time to enjoy the moment you’re in.  There are some pretty amazing moments in there.  It would be a shame to rush through them.

Love your body.  Not in a boastful way, in an appreciative way.  You are strong and healthy and you should move your body every day and realize what a blessing it is to be able to do so.  Your body will change over the years.  It will do incredible things:  you will grow people.  You will not always like how it looks.  You will not always treat it with respect.  But it is the only one you’ll get and hopefully it will carry you around for many years.

There are some habits you have now that you should hang onto.  Keep reading.  Keep spending time with your family.  Keep praying.  Keep laughing.  You have an awful lot to be thankful for, and it’s just going to get better.  So relax.  Enjoy the ride.  Life is very, very good.

Kisses,

Ash